For some of you, the best thing about the go!pass is the discounts to downtown businesses. And why not?
So here’s another great go!pass discount for you from Boxcar Studio in downtown Ann Arbor.
If you have a go!pass and are a new client to Boxcar, simply show your go!pass and get 10% off all web design and related services!
In case you haven’t noticed, getDowntown has helped to bring Zipcars to downtown Ann Arbor. Over the summer, we’ll be at a bunch of different events to spread the word about Zipcar, give out free swag and give you the opportunity to win a FREE one-year membership.
The latest winner of the drawing for a Zipcar Membership is Arun Mathur. Congratulations Arun!
2nd place Zipcar Swag packs (commuting ambassador t-shirt and zipcar goodies) will go to:
Kathi Tobey, Claudia Cao, and Cassie Freeborn.
To everyone else:
If you aren’t our fan on Facebook, get with the program! As soon as the Zipcar Ann Arbor Facebook page reaches 100 fans we’ll be giving away more one-year Zipcar memberships and other crazy prizes and swag, so stay tuned! Also, you can get details about the last of our summer events where you can say hello to your Zipcar friends AND for more chances to win a one-year membership.
We’ll see you next at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market on Saturday, August 1st!
Thanks for being so great Ann Arbor!
Sincerely, the Zipcar Ann Arbor Team (Nancy and Rebecca)
I just received some information from the AATA about the elimination of the LINK, which I am posting below. But first, a little background.
I was at meetings with the DDA Board (who provides funding for the LINK, as does the UM and the AATA) when they decided to not fund the LINK for this coming year.
The reasons they decided to stop funding the LINK are complex, but it mostly boil down to the fact that like most organizations, the DDA needs to be intentional about what it funds. There was a feeling on the DDA Board that the LINK service is not quite doing what the DDA had intended it to do when the service began and the DDA started funding it. While the DDA Board sees value in having a downtown circulator (especially for people who walk a lot and need a way to get across downtown quickly), there are challenges to the current LINK service (the fact that it only runs every 15 minutes, the route it takes, the issues with wayfinding and marketing of the service and more) that really need to be worked out. So the DDA wants to take some time to think about these issues and didn’t want to simply fund something it didn’t fully support.
The UM also decided to stop funding the LINK, but I don’t know all of the reasons behind that.
This is my take on the issue. Others might have other opinions.
Please read the statement below if you want to submit your thoughts about the Link.
There will also be a public meeting on August 10th (more info below) if you would like to talk to the AATA about this.
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is proposing the discontinuation of the Link route. The route has operated from September through April, with no service during the spring or summer. If this proposal is adopted, service will not resume on August 30, 2009.
Since 2005, local funding for the Link has been provided by the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the AATA. After discussing the role of the Link in the downtown area, the DDA decided to discontinue funding for the downtown portion of the route. The DDA is determining whether to redesign a new circulator service at a later date.
With the loss of the connection to the downtown business districts, the University of Michigan has decided to operate service between Oxford Housing and Central Campus using their own buses.
Due to the combined actions of the DDA and UM, the AATA is proposing to discontinue Link service.
Persons or organizations having questions or wishing to comment on the proposed change may do so by August 7, 2009 by one of the following methods:
1) By computer: Comment or ask questions by email to aatainfo@theride.org (put “Service Changes” in subject line).
2) By phone: Call the service change hotline at (734) 794-1880.
3) By fax: To 734.973.6338 (put “Service Changes” in subject line).
4) By mail: AATA Service Changes, 2700 S. Industrial Hwy., Ann Arbor, MI 48104.A copy of all written comments and a summary of verbal comments will be provided to the AATA Board of Directors before a final decision is made on the proposed change.
A public drop-in meeting will be held on Monday, August 10th from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority offices (150 S. Fifth Av. – 3rd floor, Ann Arbor).
Please stop by to give us your feedback and share your thoughts about the Link service!
FYI:
The City of Ypsilanti is developing a non-motorized plan and there is a great opportunity tomorrow for public input. All are invited.
Public Meeting about Ypsi non-motorized transportation plan
Thursday, July 30
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
City Council Chambers
City Hall, 1 South Huron Street, Ypsilanti
P.S. If you go and are so inclined, email us a report at info@getdowntown.org and we might post it on our blog.
AnnArbor.com reports that a cyclist traveling on Maple Rd. in Pittsfield township died after being struck by a car.
A kind reader sent me the follow graphic that shows you just how much CO2 is emitted depending on how you commute and/or the type of transportation you use:
Makes sense that walking and biking would be the least emitting, but it is interesting to see how much capacity matters with the other modes. The more you can pack people into a bus or railcar, the more environmentally sound it is. It’s also interesting to see that the Prius is a pretty good option and would be even better if you decided to carpool in a Prius.
It would be interesting do to the same sort of graphic for cost or time, which people also think about when commuting or using a mode of transportation.
If I were to do the quick and dirty cost calculation, here’s what I would have for downtown Ann Arbor:
Most Expensive to Least Expensive Ways Get to Work in Downtown A2 (note, car cost calculations based on this calc and a 20 mile commute)
I recently listened to a podcast that got me thinking about where children play. In the podcast, James Howard Kunstler discusses the effects of suburban sprawl on childhood obesity. If you think about the typical suburban community, like the one I grew up in in Maryland, the play areas for children are often created exclusively for playing. I clearly remember the “playground” inside a local mall. I’m sure many of you have play structures in your neighborhoods.
Oftentimes, parents take their children to these spaces because they are percieved as safe and comfortable. They are specifically for children and allow kids to do something in a kid-safe environment. This is also a reason why many families move out to the suburbs once they have kids. Since downtowns don’t have play structures, they aren’t really supposed to be for kids, right?
But here’s the challenge and how I link it back to childhood obesity. In addition to play structures in many neighborhoods in Ann Arbor, there have also been the creation of other place spaces that can pretty much only be gotten to by driving. Think about Jungle Java for example, where kids can play while their parents sip coffee. I know of two of these play spaces. One is on Jackson after Wagner and the other is on Washtenaw. Both locations are not very friendly to walking or biking. So rather than kids being able to just walk to a place to play, they have to be driven to that place. This is kind of how people who want to work out will drive 10 miles to go to the gym.
Here again is an interesting example of segregating uses for development. Instead of everything being mixed into one community, so you can play, eat, shop, work, work-out, etc. in one place, all of those uses are spread apart so that you are encouraged to drive from one destination to the other. And this could defintely make it harder to get the kinds of exercise that can keep all of us fit. I’m talking about the little bits of exercise you get when you live in a walkable place where walking/biking is just a way to get around.
But here’s the challenge, suppose we want to encourage kids to be able to walk to places where they can place. Since downtown Ann Arbor seems to be very walkable . . . how do we design places like downtown Ann Arbor in a way that is both friendly for kids and adults? Do we actually need to do anything different? Can kids “play” just fine without a specific place for them to do so? Or do parents feel like downtown Ann Arbor would be a bad place to raise a child because of the lack of schools and other things kids need?
I guess the reason I am bringing all of this up is that I often hear that downtowns (including downtown Ann Arbor) are not good for families because they lack the type of spaces that families need. But then many of these families move out to the suburbs and are forced to drive everywhere including to drop kids off at daycare, to go on play dates, etc. Not only does this cut down on exercise, but it also takes time . . . time that could be spent in a community.
The more I look at these different issues, the more I see how important it is to create walkable spaces with a variety of uses that allow everyone–from a small child, to a teenager, to an adult, to a senior–to get around without having to drive. It just seems to make sense. But development still hasn’t caught up. I wonder if other people feel the same way.
I had the pleasure of having lunch Michael Ford today, AATA’s new CEO. Mr. Ford met with myself and my advisory board as we completed our retreat.
My first impression: impressive.
Mr. Ford grew up in Seattle and went to school in Portland. He helped make Portland what it is today in terms of great transit (including rail). And as many of us in Ann Arbor like to compare ourselves to Portland, it’s great to have someone at AATA who comes from that area.
Mr. Ford was funny and well spoken. He already seems to have a grasp of some of the key issues we face in this community (such as having both rural and urban components, issues with transit funding, and relations between the U and the area) and was very good at listening to what all of us had to say.
For all of you avid cyclists out there, you might also be interested to know that he’s biked the 200 some miles from Portland to Seattle.
I only got to meet with Mr. Ford for an hour, but I am excited about what he will bring to the AATA. In the past couple of days he has managed to get the Northeast Connector Study approved by the AATA Board and is trying to figure out a better solution for the Arborland issue.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about Mr. Ford in the coming months. It seems like he’s off to a good start.
[A post from Citizen Blogger Sarah S.]
I recently purchased new tubes for my 14-year-old bike. The technician hoisted my purple, sticker-covered mount onto a brace and set about dismantling the tires, sanding the rims and oiling the brakes. I wandered around the shop, pricing air pumps and wheel racks, trying on helmets, mentally rearranging my budget to facilitate a tricked-out ride.
When my bike was finished, I rode it exactly thirty yards back to my apartment.
I am not at all hardcore. I bike for the same reason I drive: to get somewhere. I curse up hills and shake my fist at buses in the bike lane. I don’t fly down hills at 200 mph and I always obey traffic lights when I ride in the road. When I lived on the South side, the commute to work took about forty minutes and was four miles away. Now that I live on the West side, it is three miles to work and still takes forty minutes—without the added bonus of downhill all the way home. Ann Arbor may not look much like Rome, but it feels different at ground level; the topography often dips and pitches along the same road, especially around the hospital grounds. It doesn’t take much alternating between screeching brakes and grunting inclines to realize they should have pluralized “Hill” street.
And still I do it. I am one of those crazy bikers making drivers slow on the right, making them hit their brakes when they exit a parking structure, practically daring them to run me off the road. Because when I walk into work and take off my oversized (soon-to-be-replaced) helmet, my brain is awake like I had an espresso shooter. I can wait until noon before I need a cup of coffee. When I dismount on the ride home, it’s 5:00 and my daily workout is already over. I have the whole night to explore the height and breadth of my laziness; after all, how athletic can I be if I only bike to avoid the gym?
Top Three Reasons to Bust Out Your Bike:
1. It’s sustainable. Yeah, that might have gone without saying, but it’s a pure form of transport. Much like pedaling the Flintstone car, you’re getting where you’re going under your own physical power (the same is true of running, or even walking, but this one will get you there in half the time). Plus, all the carbon emissions you’re saving stay out of the air—and the gas money stays in your wallet.
2. You will look so totally hot. Depending on the distance you live from work, you could easily drop a few pounds biking in. You’ll burn far more calories than sitting on the bus, and your legs will tone at the first sight of an incline.
3. Art Fair. When the Deuce plays host to that wonderful and overwhelming living entity that is The Street Art Fair, your buses will be rerouted, your car will sit idling in the sun for hours, and out-of-towners flooding the sidewalks will make it impossible for you to navigate home. The only reasonable alternative is a two-wheeled one; bike lanes are clear even when traffic is stopped, and skirting the fair means no danger of getting waylaid by cars and pedestrians alike. Added bonus: normally, when you’re stuck in traffic, you have no choice but to sit and wait—on a bike, your only impediment is your own body. Trust me, you’ll be early.
[another post from Patti who's blogging for us this summer. Read her other posts here and here.]
I am one of those people who will always drive to work. There are many reasons for this, namely that teacher jobs are extremely scarce (between 200-10,000 applications per position), I actually want to teach in the district I’m in and, and perhaps most importantly, I tend to burn bridges when I leave a job. If I worked where I live, then I could feasibly run into someone who I once worked with and that would be awkward, to say the least. Also, I need at least a half hour to morph from MorningPatti into TeacherPatti.
Commuting is not a dirty word, nor should it be given the vast amounts of people who drive to work. One of the reasons that I asked my pal Nancy if I could blog for her was that I wanted to encourage other folks who drive to work to just do what you can. If you can’t walk to work, you can still easily be a responsible, environmentally-minded citizen, to wit, you can:
